The name of Luzzasco Luzzaschi is well-known from encyclopedias,
books on music history and liner-notes of recordings. His music is far less
known, and doesn't appear all that often on disc. In his time he was
universally admired, and inspired several composers of the next generation,
among them such disparate figures as Gesualdo and Monteverdi.

Luzzaschi is mostly associated with the madrigal but he was educated
as an organist. He acted as such in the service of Alfonso II d'Este in
Ferrara where he was born and worked all his life. It was in his capacity as
organist that he made a name for himself. His contemporary Vincenzo Galilei
ranked him among the best organists of his time. He had one particularly
famous pupil: Girolamo Frescobaldi. It is interesting to note that
Frescobaldi was inspired by Luzzaschi's madrigals in his toccatas. In the
prologue to his first collection of toccatas (1615) he indicates how they
should be played: "[This] manner of playing should not be fixed to the beat,
as is usual in modern madrigals, which, though difficult, are lightened by
the aid of rhythm, making it now slow now fast or, even, held suspended
according to the emotion or sentiment of the words".

Frescobaldi was a representative of the modern style, the seconda
prattica. Various of his colleagues referred to Luzzaschi as their
source of inspiration. They had every reason to do so. It is true that
Luzzaschi's madrigals are polyphonic in texture, and belong to the era of
the prima prattica. However, one could also consider him a
trailblazer for the new style which would emerge in the early 17th century.
In Ferrara he often performed madrigals with the Concerto delle
Dame,an ensemble of three ladies whose singing was the talk of
the time. Some of the most famous composers and poets expressed admiration
for their singing. They were not only involved in the performance of
madrigals, alongside other singers, they also performed music specifically
written or arranged for them. Luzzaschi published a book of pieces which
they used to sing, and there we find virtuosic embellishments not unlike
those which came into vogue in the early 17th century.

Around 1600 various debates took place between representatives of
the 'old' and the 'new' style. In his liner-notes Claudio Cavina writes:
"[Who] knows (...) how he [Luzzaschi] would have enjoyed being mentioned by
both 'rivals'!". The 'other side' saw him as one of them too. One of the
most outspoken admirers was Carlo Gesualdo who never felt attracted to the
monodic style as propagated by the likes of Caccini and Monteverdi. It was
especially Luzzaschi's command of counterpoint and his ability to express
the emotion of a text which inspired him. A friend of his wrote that
Gesualdo told him that "he has abandoned that first style and is busy
imitating Luzzasco, so loved and esteemed by him". If one knows Gesualdo's
madrigals one can easily recognize some elements in Luzzaschi's recorded
here. There is some strong chromaticism, for instance, in the closing line
of O miracol d'amore, and at the end of Gioite voi col canto
one feels very close to the world of Gesualdo.

All of this confirms that the stile nuovo as represented by
Caccini, Monteverdi and Frescobaldi didn't appear out of nothing, and that
Caccini was not the revolutionary he saw in himself. The same goes for
Gesualdo: his style was not completely his own invention, but rooted in that
of Luzzaschi.

The versatility of the latter is well demonstrated here. The subject
is the fifth book of madrigals which is recorded complete. Several madrigals
are performed in two versions. At one point we hear them as printed in the
book, at another in an arrangement following the examples in the book with
pieces for the Concerto delle Dame. In those versions the madrigals
are sung by the three sopranos, accompanied by the instruments which were
also part of the three ladies' performances, and with the ornaments be found
in that same source. This gives us some idea of the variety in performance
practice at the court of Ferrara. It also gives us some insight into the
sensational impact those singing ladies caused. The aristocratic
music-lovers of that time had never before heard its like.

That sensation is impossible to recreate. Nowadays we are well
acquainted with music from around 1600 performed by virtuosic singers and
players. We should be thankful for that. That said, Luzzaschi's music is
still largely unknown, and there is every reason to welcome wholeheartedly
this reissue of a recording which was first released on the Symphonia label.
Considering the importance of the text and the close connection between text
and music it is most regrettable that the booklet comes without English
translations. However, even if one doesn't understand Italian it is
certainly possible to note several moments where Luzzaschi makes use of
rhetorical gestures, madrigalisms and contrasting harmonic progressions to
express the meaning of the words.

The singing could hardly be better. The ensemble is outstanding and
in the passages for reduced voices and short solos the individual qualities
of the singers come to the fore. This is not music of a theatrical nature,
as with some of the late madrigals of Monteverdi. This is intimate chamber
music, which requires subtle interpretation and focused listening. The
former is delivered by the singers, the latter is up to you. Attentive
listening will be richly rewarded.